About 4,000 of the 5,000 terrible cliches about instant ramen begin with starving college students. …
Read more Read more

Wheat flour, salt, water and kansui—a combination of sodium, potassium carbonate, and phosphate—are what makes up the Japanese (originally Chinese) noodle we know and love, delicious dry and crunchy or wet and slinky. Once the noodles are made into 100-foot long strings, they're cooked for a minute at 212°F in a machine like the one you see above. The ramen is folded into squares, deep-fried at 400°F, and paired with the all-important flavor packet, the umami-salt soul of every bowl.